Heroes
by Aquila Aqua
Summary: When the stone statues of five pokedex holders were brought to her tower, Anabel could not help but wonder the story behind the statues. When she gazed at the eyes of each of the statues, she could not help but take a step back in shock. For in the eyes of the pokedex holders, all she can 'see' are pleads for help, pleads to be set free.


**Disclaimer: I don't anything from Pokemon Special.**

 **Author's note: So this idea came to me suddenly so I decided to post this before I forget about it. I love the Pokemon Special series, especially the Emerald arc. And Anabel is one of my favorite characters. So I had a thought one day of how would she react if she knew that the stone statues in her facility were actually petrified pokedex holders. And thus, this fic was born. I know it is not what I usually do, but hope you like it.**

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Call Anabel paranoid, but when Scott announces that there will be new additions to the information archive in her Battle Tower just before they were supposed to head out to the Battle Dome for Emerald's next challenge, she could not help but feel suspicious, especially since she had no prior notification of this.

But Scott being Scott, reassured her that he had fully authorized it and apologized for not letting her know beforehand because it was a last minute arrangement.

Anabel could only sigh at his explanation. But since she still had some time before she needed to head out to the Battle Dome, she decided to have a good look at the new additions. Much to her shock, the new additions were stone statues of five of the now ten pokedex holders, the very people she deeply respected and looked up to.

Having heard about the stories of the pokedex holders during her travels in Kanto and witnessing them taking down Team Rocket for the first time then, she was in awe of everything they did to prevent the world from falling into the hands of Team Rocket several times and more recently in Hoenn, Team Aqua and Team Magma. In fact, it was the pokedex holders, namely the ones from Kanto, that inspired her to be as strong as she is and accept the position as a Frontier Brain.

But seeing these statues, she could not help but feel that something was wrong. When she gazed at the eyes of each of the statues, she could not help but take a step back in shock. For in the eyes of the pokedex holders, all she can 'see' are pleads for help, pleads to be set free.

"Anabel!" Scott snapped her out of her thoughts when he placed a hand on her shoulder. If he did not have his sunglasses, she would have seen how concern he was despite the grin on his face. "Busy admiring the collection?"

Anabel quickly regained her composure and nodded stiffly. "Yes. I have to admit they feel very realistic."

Scott frowned under his sunglasses and nodded. "Indeed. But, creating these statues in honor of the pokedex holders…it just doesn't seem to suit the overall theme."

Anabel raised an eyebrow at her boss. By now, she had learned a lot about Scott's quirks and she could tell that there was something that he wasn't telling her. But she knew that pushing the matter will only result in him going around in circles, leaving her more confuse than before. So instead, she changed the subject. "I always admired the pokedex holders for the bravery. They always put their lives on the line just so that they can protect everyone. They have inspired me more ways than one."

"And that only grew with Emerald." Scott stated more than guessed. He nodded in agreement with a grin. "You are right. Without them, the world would have fallen into chaos many times."

He glanced at his watched and turned to leave. "Now, we should be heading over to the Battle Dome. Emerald should be there by now and we have to welcome the visitors."

Realizing that Scott was right, Anabel casted the stone statues one more glance, wondering about the mystery behind them.

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After the pokedex holders had destroyed the monstrosity of an imitation of Kyogre and dropped off a sleeping Emerald back at his room, Anabel and the rest of the Frontier Brains had been shocked beyond belief to learn that the stone statues that were delivered to the information archive, were in fact real people who were petrified by unknown means.

Unsurprisingly, Scott had not been as surprise as they were. But he explained that he had some suspicions about it given that the five pokedex holders had abruptly disappeared straight after defeating Team Rocket again in Kanto just months before. And since it was hard to believe that the stone statues were actually real people, he dare not jump to conclusions. They could understand his reasoning, especially since they had a hard time wrapping this fact around their heads.

And so, they decided to leave the pokedex holders alone for a while so that the petrified ones can catch up on the missing months and let their families know that they are alright.

Anabel could not help but hope that she could talk to them again soon, maybe even battle her heroes. She knew it was out of character of her, but she had always considered them to be her role models and would very much like to speak with them of their experiences in private.

However, she did not get a chance to properly speak with them or battle them as the assumed leader, Red, suggested that they all participated in the Battle Dome challenge to give Emerald another chance to earn the Tactics symbol. Nevertheless, it was a treat to watch all of them battle and show off their strength.

She inwardly smiled as she watched Emerald face Red in the final round, silently rooting for the young boy who had challenged each and every one of the Frontier Brains and rightfully earned their symbols, with the last one hanging on this match.

Red was tough, but what can they expect from the winner of the 9th Pokemon League. Even so, Emerald met his strength with his determination, ultimately winning the match by a very small margin. Due to the fact that the pokedex holders had an unspoken agreement to not use the ultimate moves during this tournament, lest they accidentally cause more damage to the structure, they had resorted to basic yet powerful moves which gave each of them a good chance to win.

Even so, Anabel was glad to have the chance to meet her heroes in person and witness their awesome strength. She could only hope that one day, she will be able to battle them and thank them for all they had done.

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 **I hope I did not make Anabel too ooc. Truthfully said, it was better in my head than it is here (like always). But I hope you liked it. Do review or favorite it.**


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